In a joint letter to Union Health and Family WelfareMinister Dr Harsh Vardhan, four organizations - the HumaneSociety International/India, People for Animals, JBF (India)Trust and Pawsome also requested him to permanently shutdown unhygienic cat and dog meat markets amid growing globalconcern about zoonotic diseases and public health dangerzones.
Zoonotic diseases are those that can be transmittedfrom animals to people. Rabies, trichinosis, typhus andanthrax are such diseases.
In parts of India, in spite of it being illegal, it isnot unusual to see dogs being slaughtered alongside otherspecies such as chickens and ducks and wildlife animals, theHumane Society International/India said in a release onSunday.
" the civil society has united in a collectiveresponse to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, including calls toclose wildlife markets that can act as a petri dish forzoonotic diseases.
"Within that context, it is only responsible forgovernments across Asia, including India, to also tackle thedog and cat meat trades," the release quoted Humane Society'smanaging director Alokparna Sengupta as saying.
While dog meat trade may not be directly connected toCOVID-19, it undoubtedly poses human health risks such as thespread of trichinosis, cholera and rabies that kill tens ofthousands of people every year, Sengupta said.
Dogs and cats are often traded and slaughtered alongwith wild animals who are the focus of the coronavirusconcern, the release said.
New pathogens could enter humans in various ways adog trader wounded during the slaughter, a consumer eatingcross-contaminated dog meat bought at a nearby stall, or atourist breathing in microscopic blood droplets as theysight-see in the market, Sengupta said.
"We have witnessed hundreds of dogs at a time crammedonto trucks, buses and driven for hours and even days acrossstates and even international borders to unhygienicslaughterhouses and markets. This trade is not only brutalbut also the perfect breeding ground for the next seriouspublic health disaster," he said.
Dog and cat meats are consumed in China, Vietnam,Indonesia and Philippines, besides India, according to therelease. ESBNN NN